Just A Likeness
by SKYLAND2704
Summary: No spoilers in the summary. I've been working on this for a LONG while. (Th OC's name is Jen)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- Resemblance**

**It was uncanny**

**Seeing those eyes open,**

**When he remembered closing them so clearly.**

It wasn't Sky Tate's regular habit you know, in fact, it was completely against every single etiquette and moral he had ever followed… stalking a college girl, and waiting for her in her college's parking lot.

But there are reasons for everything, especially for Schuyler Tate there definitely are. He was now, a man, a deeply scarred man of thirty-two, literally. The commander of SPD's earth base had a short scar, that ran up from his left eyebrow to his left temple, then there was one from his chin to his right ear, and finally, the largest one, on his back, from shoulder to hip, diagonally, a reminder of his biggest failure.

His face had the perpetually weary expression of a man who had been in countless battles. But the expression didn't owe itself to the battles, oh no, he was too young to have witnessed that many battles. No, the expression was the result of _one_, just one such battle.

_That one_.

As he sat waiting for the girl in his Bentley, he thought about the little series of events that had led to this immoral act.

The previous day, Sky had been sick, worried sick, because it was his daughter's first day of school, well, the new school. (She didn't like the old one.) And he wasn't sure how she'd be managing. He wanted to go pick her up from school, and not leave the nanny to do so, but he couldn't possibly do it, because of all the work. Then came along his best friend, Bridge, who sensed Sky's tension, and offered to cover up for his shift, with a return of complete access to the toaster for him. (Sky had previously removed all toasters from the academy to rid Bridge of his addiction.)

So anyway, after sealing the deal, giving Bridge the toaster for a week that is, he left for his daughter's school. They, i.e. his wife and him, had named her Jennifer, or Jen. He had already called up the nanny to tell her that he'd pick Jen up, and when he reached school, he was a few minutes early, then suddenly, the bell rang, and all the kids came running out. Picking Jen out of the crowd wouldn't be easy for a normal parent, but for Sky, it was the simplest task at hand. Jen ran up to him screaming "DAD!" and he picked her up easily, placing her on his shoulders. "how was Jenny's day today?" and Jen told him everything about her day, on the way back to his car.

She had made quite a lot of friends that day, and all her teachers were impressed with her. And Sky honestly wasn't surprised, she was such a lovable girl, something she had gotten from her mother.

As they had made their way back to home, Sky asked her what she wanted as a prize for going through her first day of school so bravely, reflecting on his own experience. And she replied 'ice cream'. Seriously, she could've asked for ANYTHING and she went for ice cream.

"alright, then, we'll get you ice cream." Sky had said, and the father-daughter duo made their way to the most popular ice cram corner in New Tech City: 'The Frozen NTC'.

Sky made Jen sit on one of the tall chairs, and went to order, after asking her what she wanted. It was the blueberry swirl, her favorite, with chocolate icing, and nuts sprinkled.

Anyway, as Sky was waiting in the queue for his turn, his eyes fell on a face he'd never thought he'd ever see again.

It was uncanny seeing those eyes again, twinkling when she laughed. He remembered them closing. He remembered the tears that followed, and he remembered and still felt the loneliness living in the empty void of a black hole that had become his life.

He had never thought he'd hear that voice again, listen to that light laughter, or see that smile that made him weak in the legs. That girl in the line ahead of him, she had that same look of casual indifference, that sassy attitude, and those eyes, that betrayed all her nonchalance, revealing a sight into a deeply caring soul.

He could've sworn it was her, the girl he had madly loved, only, she was younger.

He had been so lost in that unbelievable mirage of his late wife that he didn't realize it was already his turn at the counter. So, anyway, he got ice-cream for Jen, and then, a while later, just as that girl and another girl, (probably her friend,) who had accompanied her were also leaving, the father and daughter also left.

Sky didn't take Jen home directly; instead, he decided to tail the girls. Following them at a safe distance with his daughter eating his head, he found out that she was a student at the NTC University, or the NTCU.

Sky was jerked back into present when he saw that girl exit the college with a guy her age. He was as heavily built as Sky himself, and wore a red and grey 'Lincoln Town' jersey. He was also blond like Sky.

He watched as the young couple got into a car, probably a Ford, and started out, and away, and he followed them. He saw them making their way across the town into the city, and finally come to a stop outside a coffee shop.

They got out, and so did Sky, after parking his car a few spaces away as to not arouse any suspicion. He was aching, not to talk to the girl, or even meet her, but just look at her face, soak it all in. It was painful, though, to look at her. It brought out so many memories, and well, he didn't want to think about his late wife.

About how she used to cross her arms when she got all defensive, how she used to unknowingly put a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and how beautiful she looked in those moments, about how she was a ray of sunshine in his dull, career bound life, or how she used to bring out the best in him.

It was quite evident how he had fallen in love with her, what he often wondered was how it had been that she had fallen for him, the man who easily could've been a statue that ate and drank. He was always by-the rules, and she always liked to throw them away, he used to look at the hopeless part of the situation, the clouds, she always found out the hope in hopeless, the silver lining.

There hadn't been two more contrasting individuals, and together they made this one amazing person, who had the best of both of them. The living example of this person was their daughter, Jen.

Sky silently sat a few tables across from the couple, such that he could easily see her face, while the guy blocked his to her view. He just sat gazing at her, without her notice.

He knew this wasn't his girl, but still he felt a pang of jealousy, when he saw this girl bend over a little, over the table, and plant a small kiss on this man's lips.

It took all of Sky's conscious control to not go over there, and punch the other man in the face.

_Sky control yourself; this isn't your Z, your Z died. This is just some random girl who just happens to look exactly like your Z. Z will never come back to you, she can't… and you can't go to her and leave Jenny here alone_. He sat thinking; long after the couple had gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Memories**

**Why're they such a good thing,**

**When all they bring is pain,**

**For they're people and places you'll never see again.**

Sky was fine most of the time; he could manage himself quite well, and with a little help from his friends, it seemed like nothing had happened. He was just fine… only, he was a wreck on the inside.

"Are you worried about Sky?" Syd asked Bridge as he was exiting the command centre.

"Aren't we all?" he replied.

"Yeah, he had gotten himself in control some time ago, but something's happened, I'm more than sure, which has depressed him again." Syd said.  
"I realized that too." Bridge said, nodding.

"we need to figure something out. Or me might do something a bit too drastic."

"we've handled him so far, I think we can manage it quite well." He said, planting a little kiss on her cheek.

She let out a sigh, and then smiled. "I hope we can, Bridge, I can just hope."

Sky had drove out to the NTC cemetery, and was now sitting on a bench by his wife's grave. Holding his head in his hands. He knew he'd never be able to be with another woman again, in his life. He just loved her too much.

He wasn't crying, not yet, but the tears were gonna come, as he sat thinking about her. He remembered the slightest and unimportant moments, but they were enough to make him break.

His thoughts rang back to one special night.

_They were both twenty-three at the time, and had been dating for two years. He had taken her out for a nice romantic dinner, out of the blue. It was no one's birthday, not an anniversary, not even Valentines Day. He wanted to make this day special in a different way._

_They had had dinner, and then were walking back to the SPD academy, when on the way, on a bridge on the river, suddenly, a million fireflies burst out of nowhere and lit up the world. She gasped, looking so happy seeing them, and the couple watched it together, he wrapped an arm around her waist, "I love you," she said, realizing that little firefly show was organized by her boyfriend himself._

_Suddenly, he smiled, and snapped his fingers, and an orchestra showed up from nowhere. They began playing a VERY famous love song, "Wise men say…."_

_"Sky?" she looked at him in surprise, he had anticipated that, but what better song than the most romantic of all the romantic songs for this special purpose._

_He pulled out a small box from his coat's inner pocket, and got down on one knee._

_"'Wise men say, only fools rush in,'" he quoted from the sing, "I know we've been dating for only two years, but Elizabeth Avery Delgado, I can't help but fall in love with you. I know we've had our ups and downs, and we fight quite a lot, but yet, I can't think of anyone better than you I would want to spend my life with. I want to wake up everyday seeing your face; I want to make you happy, I want to make you feel, like nothing can be wrong ever again. Z I want to marry you. Do you feel this way? Will. You. Marry. Me?" he spoke the last sentence with a lot of pauses, in order to make him clearer._

_She just stood there, for a moment or two, and Sky thought, she must've thought they were moving too fast, and that she was going to reject him, she'd break it off, and they'll never see each other again._

_Damn…_

_That was when she spoke, there were tears in her eye,_

_"yes Schuyler Alison Tate, I will." _

_For Sky, the world stopped then and there. She bent down on her knees to lower herself to his level, realizing that he was in a trance, and kissed his lips gently_.

That was when Sky's mind pushed him into another memory.

_He was all sweaty from moving around the furniture all day, probably broken a few bones as well. He and his fiancée had just moved in their new apartment, where he still lived. He went and plopped down on his bed in a pile of tired. He didn't fee like even lifting a finger, afraid it might break, when suddenly, his hyperactive fiancée, Z, came jumping in the room, she seemed a little tense, but also as if she was trying to contain excitement. "Sky, Sky, Sky, Sky, Sky, Sky, Sky" she yelled his name a hundred times before he slowly brought his jaw muscles to say, "Z, breathe!" _

_"Sky, Sky, Sky, I'm late." She said, breathlessly._

_"for what?" he asked drowsily, and she looked at him with slanted eyebrows, giving him the 'you-know-what-I-mean' face, he in reply gave her a, 'do-a-guy-a-favor-and-just-tell-him' face._

_"come on Sky? My period? It was due three days ago!"_

_"well, it just might be an irregular cycle" he said, lethargically._

_"yeah, I realize that. But Sky, it might mean something else completely"_

_"take a test" he replied, irritably._

_"AAWWW… Sky? Is my big boy tired?" Z asked, getting his problem, she understood him so well._

_"I've broken something, I'm sure…" he replied, cringing._

_"Sky…" she said, kissing his cheek, "I'll take the test tomorrow. I'm not going to irritate you right now," she chuckled, and got into bed beside him._

_The next day, he woke up, rather, jumped up, because the second his eyes opened, he remembered what his fiancée had told him last night. She might be pregnant. Overjoyed, and not so tired now, he jerked her awake, and she woke moaning, "5 more minutes please!" but he wasn't gonna let her, was he? He pulled her out of the bed, and sent her with the stick to the washroom to take the test._

_He was gonna become a father._

Tears strolled down his eyes as he remembered the moment he'd found out he'd be having two girls to take care of.

He remembered how scared he had been right before the delivery. He was so uncertain whether he'd be a good dad or not. He was absolutely sure that Z would've been such a great mother. Sadly, he'd never find out.

He remembered their wedding.

_It had been scheduled a month after she had announced herself pregnant. Z was his soul-mate, and he was sure of it as anything. He remembered lilies. The highlight of the wedding, it was beautiful, everything was white and sparkly. She had never looked more beautiful. That white dress looked perfectly radiant on her. He recalled her wedding vow. It was short, but it encompassed everything. "Sky, we've had a million fights, and we're nothing alike, but we've always come through; we've found each other a hundred times, I wouldn't mind if we have to do it a hundred times more. I love you Sky Tate, I always will"_

_He remembered his own, "I want your happiness to be everlasting, and I want it there because of me, I never would want to hurt you. I'd spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy. I will even give you my life. I know Z, that you might think these are empty words, but it's all I have to promise. I want to be yours and yours forever."_

These were not your typical romantic wedding vows off of Google, but they did encompass all the emotion of the world.

These were probably the most beautiful memories of his life, but then 'that' incident occurred. Today sitting by his wife's grave, he pained thinking about the happiest moments of his life. He loved her more than himself, and she had left him. She was gone, and now he was still hurting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Death **

**He never saw it coming.**

**It was so sudden: in less than a minute,**

**Everything was taken away from him...**

Sky Tate was typing some data into the SPD mainframe database, his mind not in it. He was thinking about that day. The day he had lost all his life. The day he had lost the girl he loved.

He wished they hadn't fought that day, well, he wished for a lot of things, all of them redundant now. He felt so guilty. A solitary tear slid down his cheek to his hand, which was busy typing.

His memories went back to that day, "seriously Sky you are impossible!" had been her sentences before she walked out on him. And he, in all his ego, didn't have the decency to chase his wife, or even call out to him, to say sorry.

Today, four years later, he didn't remember what the argument had been about, but he knew it was his fault. It was painfully etched in his memory, the expression in her eyes, of anger, and irritation, which, sadly was the last feeling he had made her feel. He felt more tears slide down his eyes, but made no effort to stop them. He didn't stop his thoughts either, which made their way to the battle. He was the red ranger at the time, not the commander, which meant that he didn't get to order cadets around from the HQ, and that he had to go to the actual battlefield. They had gone to the city square, which now happened to be the place with the most painful memories of his life etched in his brain.

Not etched, _Branded_, with a hot iron.

It should've gone like a regular fight, ID the monster, fight it, confine it. the first part had been easy, it was a Calicos Spectros, and had gone to fight it.

They had found the monster baffling. It was weird; it just escaped like that, flowing through like the wind slipping between their fingers.

The rangers kept throwing attacks at it, and firing it. He remembered Z running in with a long delta striker in her hand at it, and fire it, but something happened, there was a HUGE eruption of blinding light, and the next moment, she came flying back, and demorphed right as he, her husband caught her. She cried out, screamed as she felt a searing pain in her chest.

She was bleeding, from a long slash that ran from her left collarbone to her right breast. He had to struggle to keep her upright, she had put all her weight on him. He knew something was wrong when he felt his ranger top getting wet. He demorphed, and laid her on the ground, shouting out to the other rangers to continue the battle. They put on the SWAT armor and continued throwing attacks at the monster.

The wound was bleeding like anything. She was shaky, and her mouth opened, to let out a scream, but nothing coming out. His lips hung low, trembling, not knowing what to do. He called out for an ambulance, afraid to leave her. he tried all the known medical procedures for first aid he had ever learnt, but somewhere in their heart, both knew this was gonna be the end.

The monster suddenly disappeared. It had escaped.

The others rushed to call an ambulance, Sky remembered everything in a messy, haphazard way. All he remembered was commotion, saying "it'll be fine," and a million false assurances, and all the crying. His crying, not hers; she was quiet.

Sky was hell scared, she was breathing heavily, then suddenly she spoke, softly, "Sky, I can't make it." she whispered to him, and he replied, with a multiple "don't say that!" and "of course you'll make it" and "stay positive Z", but she put a hand to his lips, and then to his cheek and with a hint of humor, said, "lighten up" why had she done that? Sky felt a pang of agony in his heart.

"Z don't say that!" he exclaimed, she didn't reply, smiling again, "Sky, I love you, always will, whether I'm there or not."

"Z don't say that. we're gonna grow old together. You're not leaving. I'm not letting you."

He was crying, he remembered her last words, "I'll meet you again. Maybe as the color in the sky, or the droplets of water. I'll always be with you. I love you forever." and then how she went so completely still. Just froze. She was gone. Elizabeth Delgado had left the world.

"I love you too" Sky had said amidst the tears.

Sky couldn't type anymore, he felt like his head would explode. She had asked him one thing, one last thing, to forget her, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't forget her.

She had died, he lived, but in all, it just meant that she had died, and he lived.

Suddenly, Bridge entered, and the HQ, and saw Sky, his head pressed against the table, sobbing.

"Sky, go home, get some rest." He suggested, making him get up; Sky was too sick to argue. He just left with his friend. Bridge put Sky in his own room, since Sky had moved out of the base after getting married.

Bridge resumed the work Sky had been doing, and his thoughts also wavered to what Sky had been thinking. Nothing else could make Sky cry like that.

He remembered the day, a little too well.

He had also lost the girl he loved.

Not in the way Sky, did, of course, but he did love her, like an older sister. Which was exactly what Z had been to him.

Bridge couldn't get certain painful pictures out of his mind. He remembered the image of Z's blood stained body lying on Sky's lap, a terror stricken, pale Sky Tate, bent over her body, wailing, he remembered seeing the monster disappear from his grasp, and then running back to Sky, who howled as he saw the life of his wife leaving her body right in his hands, and so helplessly couldn't do anything about it. He remembered how Sky had closed her eyes, and sat crying there, when suddenly a more than fatal blow of a knife slashed diagonally against his back. It was the Calicos monster, he hadn't disappeared. Syd and the green ranger at the time went after it, but were still unsuccessful of catching him. He disappeared, never to be seen again.

Sky didn't even scream. He just fainted over her body, maybe hoping he'd go with her as well.

But he was saved; by the doctors.

She wasn't.

Bridge remembered three year old Jen innocently asking her mother to wake up, not knowing she never would. He remembered the funeral. He remembered all the eulogies of everyone, except her husband, who sat in a corner, unable to recover from the shock, unable to utter a single word.

He remembered the songs at the funeral, and the lowering of the casket. He remembered leaving, and remembered Sky sitting by the gravestone, even after everyone was gone. He hadn't gone home that day. In fact, his three-year daughter had spent the night at Jack and Ally's.

Sky wanted to end his life, but his friend talked him out of it, reminding that he had a responsibility towards his daughter, which was now the only thing that kept his machinery running.

Bridge couldn't understand how anyone could love someone so dearly. Maybe he never would. But he felt what happened to these star crossed lovers wasn't right.

And there was no way to rectify it either.

The death itself hadn't been quite so dramatic. That fatal blow, it hadn't been meant for Z, in fact, it wasn't meant to even be fatal. And nobody on the team knew who delivered the blow except the all-knowing, conscience-reader, Bridge Carson...

There had been some special updates he and Boom had been working on, in an upgraded new weapon. When that monster kept slipping out of everyone's hands, and kept taunting them, in an adrenaline induced frenzy, Bridge attached the untested prototype to his SPD saber, and attacked the monster, who somehow deflected the blow, and it hit Z. it was supposed to put the victim in a confinement card, but it ended up killing her.

To his friends, the blow had come from the monster, who must've been responsible for the death as well, but Bridge knew. He knew he had committed a murder. The murder of an innocent girl's mother, his best friend's wife, and his sort-of-sister. How could've he been so stupid?

That cute goofy guy he had once been was gone. He would never be the same. His guilt ridden, blood stained conscience sought for atonement, which didn't seem possible anytime soon. He couldn't tell anyone either. Maybe as time will pass, as he'll grow up, he might disclose his secret, maybe to Syd, maybe to Jack, maybe to Sky, but there'll always be one person he would never be able to tell, and that one person was the one who deserved to know the most.

Always, always, Jennifer Tate.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Confrontation **

**It's quite simple you know,**

**If you wanted to get to know me,**

**All you had to do was ask…**

Sky knew everything. About this girl there was to know. Well, not everything, but all the significant things. He knew where she lived, he knew her college, he knew her boyfriend, and all of her friends, at least by their faces. He had seen her mother, who seemed like an amiable woman, and he had not seen her father, who, he assumed must return late from work.

He had been trailing her for a little over a week. He knew this wasn't Z, not his wife, but he still couldn't resist the temptation to see that face, even if from a little distance, he felt she was still with him. That was enough of a reason for him to keep this up. It just gave him satisfaction to see that girl smiling, as if Z was, a little creepy though it was.

He was surprised that she had not noticed the Bentley that kept tailing her wherever she went. Yes, Sky had a professional's experience in shadowing people being in SPD and all that, but that still didn't mean you don't notice the same damned car parked a few spaces from yours, every day!

Maybe she just wasn't that bright.

He was waiting in the car outside the college gates again. It wasn't like he had nothing else to do, but he was the commander, and he could get to order people around, and there was no one to order him around, so he'd sneak out of SPD often, to see this girl.

He was just thinking about Z, waiting in the Bentley, when he heard a tap on the window, he was awakened from his reverie by Z; wait, it wasn't Z, it was that other girl. She had seen him, he hurriedly rolled down the window, "hi!" she said, cheerfully, she had the EXACT same voice as Z had.

"hello?" Sky replied uncertainly, "how can I help you?"  
"a good start will be not pretending you haven't been waiting for me." She replied, okay, her sense of humor was also like Z's. Maybe she wasn't that dumb.

Rebirth? Nah, he scoffed at the idea.

"listen man, I know you've been tailing me for more than a week, and all my friends know it too, so it'll be better if you tell me what you want," she said calmly. Okay, she was smart. Like Z.

"didn't your parents teach you to not talk to strangers?"

"didn't yours teach you to not stalk girls like creeps?"

"what if I am one?" he said indignantly,

"nothing to be proud of." She said, "plus, I know people by their faces. You aren't a bad guy; I can see that, even the scars are for a decent reason, so how about you just tell me what you're up to, and we'll part ways." She proposed.

"how about I get you coffee and we can talk?" he presented a counter proposal.

She thought about it, beckoned to her friends, and got in the car beside him, in the passenger seat.

"where to?"

"Frozen NTC?"

"they don't have coffee there."

"right, so how about Coffee Central?"

"sounds good."

And the two drove in silence.

They entered the coffee shop, and Sky picked out a place, and dragged the chair out for her.

"very gentlemanly." She said once he had sat down in front of her, he smiled.

Sky ordered an espresso, she ordered a latte.

"what makes you interested in me that you leave all your ethics, and start stalking me?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

"I don't have to explain it," he said, pulling out his wallet, and showing her a picture he kept in there.

It was of him and Z, and a year old Jen, they had gone to Disney land, and it was from there.

"that's me?"

"no, it's not, it's someone who looks like you."

"like, my…" she searched for a word, then, unable to come up with something better, "doppelgänger."

"yeah, your… doppelgänger." He replied.

"who is she?"

"who are you?"

"right, we haven't had formal introductions. I'm Monica, Monica Myers" she said,

"Schuyler Tate," he replied.

"okay, so as far as I can guess, this is your wife, or ex-girlfriend, who is either missing, or dead, am I right?"

"Wife, dead," Sky clarified, it was perhaps the hardest thing in the universe to say. "I loved her more than anything in the whole world, and then she left me. I never thought I'd ever see her face again, hear that voice. But then I saw you. I mean I know, you're not her, but I—I uh, I just couldn't stop myself, I'm really sorry if I caused you any sort of trouble." He said, apologetic.

"listen Mr. Tate," she began, but Sky interrupted her,

"call me Sky."

"I don't think I should" she replied, "but listen to me, you can't just chase around people who remind you of your wife. You need to let go of her and her memories, you need to live your life. I am no one to tell you this, but you do. Things happen for a reason, and maybe her going was for one too. It was sad, I admit, but get over yourself. You're a grown man and you have a daughter as well. Think about what she feels when she sees you so… devastated?"

"what makes you think I'm devastated?" he asked, looking devastated.

"well, you're following a twenty year old girl, who just looks a teensy bit like your wife. I think that speaks for itself. What do you think yur daughter thinks about you? You aren't really the role model dad."

"not a teensy bit, exactly." He corrected, but then at a look from her, he said, "okay, maybe you're right…" thinking it over. Everyone was telling him to get over himself, and forget Z. Forget her for Jen, after all, they were right, what did the little seven year old think about her father? The man who didn't spend any time with her, who spent his days in a cemetery, who didn't even do his job properly, taking leaves and disappearing, following a twenty year old like a creep. He could never forget Z, loved her too much to, but yes, he'd definitely try not to think so much about her all the time, and maybe control his tears.

They talked for a while. He saw sense. He had a plan; he was going to pick up his life from scratch. Yes, he would do that. Talking to this girl, Monica, made him feel lighter. They had come to the café as two strangers, who had crossed paths in a rather strange way. They exited the café as friends.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: After**

**—My father?**

**He was just a madman.**

**—No, he was man who was madly in love…**

Jennifer Tate was visiting New Tech City after almost a year. She had left for LA when she was 19, as she was hoping her career would take off better from there. It was true.

Today, three years later, she had to come home, because of a very… unsettling incident. Her father often came to visit her in LA, but she didn't like the feel of NTC, and wouldn't come here often. But today was different. She HAD to come, Sydney Drew, her godmother, had called her up. She was the one who had delivered the horrible, horrible news.

Her father had died.

She at first couldn't believe what she had heard, but slowly as the realization sunk in, Jen went into a depression. It was painful. To think that that brave man, who had brought her up all by himself, in absence of her mother was gone.

No, she couldn't believe her.

Yet here she was; wearing a black dress, and a large black hat that overshadowed her face. She had grown up to become a really, really beautiful woman. She had Sky Tate's eyes, those stormy grey eyes, which told a story of passion for everything she did. She had Z Delgado's beautiful auburn hair that flew down towards her shoulders. She didn't let the hair grow longer than that. There were fringes that covered her forehead, just like her mother.

The funeral was held, there was silence all around; he was buried and then just as Jen was about to leave, she collided into a woman about ten years older to her, and was shocked, for it seemed like, well… it was her mother.

No wait, that wasn't possible. Two reasons, her rational mind began thinking, first, that her mother had been dead more than fifteen years, and second, that this woman was ten years older to her, while her mother must've been twenty-four years older to her.

This must be Monica Myers. The girl her father used to talk to every once in a while, he said she reminded him of her mother; it was kinda cute. She credited this woman of bringing Sky out of depression. It was only after he had met her that he began letting go of his depression.

Yes, she'd still see him looking out a window, thinking about what could've been, but it was less often now. After all, it had been fifteen years, right?

"Monica?" she asked,

"yes, that's me, but I don't think I recognize you. For all I can guess, you might be that singer… what's her name?"

"Jenny TD?"

"yeah, exactly! How'd you guess?"

"maybe because the T and D stand for Tate and Delgado." She said.

"wait, you're Jen? As in Sky Tate's daughter?" Monica couldn't believe herself.

"yes." She quietly replied. Jen didn't prefer to speak much.

"wow, Jen, how much you've grown. I almost didn't recognize you." She said, placing a hand on the young girl's cheek.

"no one does. Maybe it's because of the paleness" she said, referring to her skin, pale as an albino. How it had gotten that way, none of her parents knew, but it had been there since she had been.,

"actually, no dear, that's what makes you recognizable" Monica said.

Jen gave a small chuckle, the sadness in her eyes couldn't be hidden, and said, "my dad always said that too That this was what made me stand out in a crowd, and that it was an amazing thing."

"your father was a wise man" Monica supplemented.

"My father? He was a madman" Jen always felt embarrassed when confronted with what her father used to do at times, but he wan her dad, the guy who had raised her. She couldn't blame him either, she loved him too much to hate him for it, so she'd just settle on mental illness caused by loss of a loved one.

"no, he wasn't a madman. He was just a man who was madly in love with your mother"

"why're you sticking up for him? didn't he stalk you? Why are you even at his funeral?" Jen said,

"we had grown closer in time. Not that close, but yes, I did feel bad when I found out about this. And anyway, he just stalked me because I looked like your mother, and he was desperately clinging on to anything that reminded him of her. It is very sweet if you look at it from that angle."

"how did you, at twenty something think this far? If a guy'd stalk me now, I'd have done something completely else. Maybe given him a thrashing"

"well, I don't know why either, but I'm glad I did. At least I got to know someone as great as your dad. Did you know he was going to be the head commander?"

"he's my father. Of course I knew." She snapped, and then realized what she had done, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just that I can't believe he's…" she looked for the right word, but couldn't find any. She choked up and felt tears streaming down her eyes, Monica was just about to say something comforting, but she, with a hand gesture stopped her.

"I'm fine" she said.

"you cannot believe that he's gone, right?" Monica asked, Jen nodded.

"if you find anything that was his, you'd hold on to it?" Monica continued, and Jen nodded again.

"and if you happen to see someone who looks like him, won't you try and find out how that man resembles your father so much?" she asked, and Jen nodded again.

"this was just how your father saw your mother's death. Do you understand now?"

And Jen nodded again. A few moments passed where neither spoke and then, out of the blue, the forever calm and composed Jennifer Tate, the one who never let people in, afraid they'd hurt her, the girl who had spent most of her life in silent grief, first at the loss of her mother, then at the trances of her father, and now, at the loss of her father, the one who never showed anyone her emotions, keeping them locked inside, burst in tears.

She hugged Monica ever so tightly, one would think she was hugging her own mother, and cried, cried for almost half an hour, pouring her heart out.

"it's hard," she said, "being alone even with someone by your side. It's as if someone's there, but they aren't, and you're alone." She sobbed.

And she was right, it was the worst feeling in the universe. Like sitting in a huge circle of closest friends, and not being able to talk to them, like seeing food in front of you, but not being able to reach out a hand and put it into the starving stomach: the feeling of being isolated in a crowd. She cried and cried and cried.

Jen and her dad had grown a little close, but never close enough to talk about mom, which was whom she always wanted to talk about, know what she was like, what her choices were, what colors she'd like, what she wanted to become, how she had fallen in love with her dad. But no, she didn't even know what her grandmother's name was.

Anyway, after a while, she bid Monica goodbye, promising to stay in touch.

Now, after lightening the weight of sorrow on her shoulder, she set to the important task of investigation: finding out exactly how her father died.

He might've been weak enough to never be able to talk about death, but she wasn't.

"hey, Mr. Carson, I need to talk to you" she approached Bridge, he was the one who had been silent throughout the funeral, and it definitely struck her as odd. She knew that he knew something.

"Jen, you can call me uncle Bridge like you always have"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Carson, but I can't. I have an important task at hand, and I need to focus on it."

"what… important task?" he asked.

"I want to know…" suddenly Sydney interrupted them.

"what are you two talking about?" she asked

"oh great, you're here too" Jen said, and then repeated her question, "how exactly did my dad die?"

"wh—why do you ask that?" Bridge asked.

"well, I need to know, in fact I also need to know how my mother died, since dad would never talk about it."

Bridge looked at Syd, and Syd looked back t him, both of them exchanging a whole conversation in their eyes.

Bridge took Jen's hand, and sat her down on one of the church chairs.

"Jen, that battle we told you about, the one where he didn't make it?"

"yeah" she nodded.

"well…" Bridge hesitated.

"he made it out of that battle." Syd spoke, and Jen gasped.

"well, then why the fuck are we here?" Jen swore, and realized that this was the first time she had swore before people double her age.

"Jennifer mind your language" Syd said, annoyed.

"no Syd, let her. It's my fault that he died. Again" Bridge said.

"Again?" Jen asked, how many times had her father died?

"listen Jen, I was the one who kil—" he was interrupted by Sydney Drew, who clamped a hand on his mouth.

"Sky would've lived, but he'd have been a vegetable all his life. His feet were burnt off and like you've seen his body, well, he wasn't just stable enough. It had been his idea though. He asked us to kill him." Bridge made a choking sound.

"Euthanasia," he said, "mercy killing" then translated into a simpler language.

Jen gasped. She was feeling such anger, how big of a coward he had been. She felt it with all of her heart that he should have remarried, a stepmother, who could've brought Sky out of depression, and raised Jen so that she wouldn't be the person she was now. Maybe if she had gotten something like that, she wouldn't have been so cold and far off to people. Maybe, just maybe she'd have been a tad bit friendly. Maybe…

No, she couldn't forgive him. He was so hung-over a dead woman that he killed himself. No, this wasn't how she was going to live. No, this wasn't how she was gonna go. Jennifer had decided that much. She wouldn't throw her life away on her father's death, even though she loved him as deeply as he had loved her mother.

She didn't want to live and die at the same time. She wouldn't.

She left without saying goodbye to Sydney and Bridge, just walked out, never wanting to see them again.

Bridge Carson remembered the scene of Sky's death. He had told Sky that he'd live, and Sky seemed to believe him, in fact he was also willing to try to live, but then Bridge told him about what had happened with Z, and that was the end of his will to live, and then his euthanasia.  
He still couldn't tell Jen about Z's death.

He'd die with the guilt of ruining the life of his best friend, and causing the death of the most amazing people he had ever met.

Meanwhile, Sky Tate's soul had found peace, being buried in a coffin beside her wife, dying at the hands of his wife's killer and his best friend. Yes, it was true that her death wasn't intentional, but it had happened. No matter what Bridge felt, for Sky it had been murder, his murder. His best friend was the one who had take away everything from him. But now, after death, he was reunited with her. They were gonna be together forever. He was surprised to see that she was still waiting for him, just like she had said. They would meet again. Their daughter would hate him for what he had done, proving once more that he was weak, but he didn't care. He had fulfilled his responsibility, made her into a strong woman who wouldn't succumb to the weakness he had.

She would be the best of both of them.

**THE END**

**A/N:** This was the end of Just a Likeness. Not a very good one I admit, but as my awesome friend, Z Tate, (the author) said, "not all stories need to have a happy ending" so here was this story, dedicated to her. I don't hate myself for writing such a sad story, but I do feel sad when I read it. I know the ending got a little messed up, but well…

Thank you for reading it and giving me a bit of your precious time!


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